Training or Learning - what’s it to be?

For those of you with short attention spans here’s a brief synopsis of what I’m going to say:

1st I’ll talk about the difference between training and learning.
2nd I’ll bemoan the fact that we call it learning but it’s training
3rd I’ll ramble a bit about pilots and how it’s good that they’re trained (rather than “learned”)
4th I’ll wrap up with a blindingly obvious conclusion that I think all us learning folks might not have thought about recently.

Read on for the “good” stuff.

When I first entered the world of learning it was called training. I trained people to do “stuff”. At the end of my training session I hoped that they could do said “stuff”. Sometimes they could. Sometimes they couldn’t and it’s those that couldn’t that bugged me.

Then I formally went into a Learning department and discovered that what I should have been doing was helping people learn. So the difference is that training is where you try and pour knowledge and skills into someones head. Learning is where you help them find the knowledge and skills themselves.

Pretty obvious right?

Well - erm, no. Because we still do training. We just call it learning now. We still go to subject matter experts and take their knowledge - split it into small, instructionally sound chunks and then present it to people (either face to face or electronically).

So why are we (the royal we - corporate learning functions is the “we” here) deluding ourselves that we’re helping people learn when actually we’re still “training” them?

Don’t get me wrong - training has it’s place. I would really like my pilot to have been thoroughly trained before he sits in the cockpit. Imagine what it would be like if pilots were allowed to “learn” how to fly? They’d take some eLearning courses, maybe have a go in a simulator. A keen one might even try it out on a real plane… However, when they sit in the cockpit for their first flight they suddenly realise that what they practiced wasn’t the real world and does anyone know where the manual is please?

Ah - I think I’ve just described where corporate learning functions are going wrong. We’re training when we should be enabling learning (background information, overviews of processes, context and concepts) and we’re enabling learning when we should be giving training (skills, tasks etc).

Before you decide you hate me for saying that - let me clarify a little then I’ll end. By saying we train people I mean we give them the opportunity to practice skills and tasks in a real environment. Ideally with people who have already done it or know what they’re doing. Kind of like informal learning but more informal training (also known as performance support..).

Where is this going? Well - this is call to “thinks” (like a call to arms but for your brain).

Training has it’s place. Learning has it’s place. They’re not mutually exclusive so don’t ignore either of them.